canary in the coal mine?

i usually don't like to post twice a day, but anne midgette from the ny times posted her review of the critical conversation blog/event at artsjournal.com

i almost got up and cheered when i read this enlightened quote.

'The discussion offered fantastic food for thought, and everyone seemed to enjoy taking part. For one thing, it wasn't like what most of us do as critics. In fact, one wonders how much discussions of new music have to do with the classical music world today: a collection of fundamentally conservative institutions in which predominantly old music is presented and received in reverential, churchly silence and new music, for better or worse, is too often something to sit through.

Many critics deplore this situation and are deeply invested in encouraging contemporary performances from classical institutions. We beat the drum about the need for more new work, trying to encourage it when it comes, pointing at every young face around us as evidence of the longed-for audience of the future. We hope to convince people like my friend, potential Tan Dun listeners, that there is something here for them. In essence, we're demanding of classical music that it be a living art.

But focusing as we do on the larger institutions, we're not necessarily keeping abreast of the latest trends in composition ourselves. Sure, there are many composers who write music for the orchestras, chamber ensembles and opera companies that we cover. But are they really the future of the field?"

does a review of a discussion about postmodern/postclassical music change anything?

probably not... but could it be another example of the "canary in the coal mine"!!

uncomfortable party conversations

rehearsal tonight, and a party today for the avenue 50 studio where i rehearse. they are celebrating their new nonprofit status, which is a big step for them. congratulations kathy! ave 50 is a great gallery that deals with outsider and underground art.

so whenever i am at a party and kathy introduces me around as her "composer friend" we always do that uncomfortable dance, of what do i call my music. this is usually how it breaks down:

kathy-here is my friend paul i was telling you about, he rehearses at the studio and writes some great music.

kathy friend-nice to meet you paul, what kind of music do you write? i would love to hear it.

paul- postmodern, minimalist, really in the style of philip glass and steve reich.
(which my stuff sounds nothing like, but it is related in the red-haired stepchild sort of way. but by dropping these names at least they know i am not finding my inner god through stockhausen or berio)

kathy friend-(blank stare, has no idea who philip glass and steve reich are) .... you mean experimental music?

paul-(at this time I am usually embarrassed, because now there is not much to do as we play marco polo with new music references)

this conversation brings up the point of the never-ending battle of terminology, defining yourself before they define you.

so in a zarlino sort of way, here is my roundup of dictionary of the latest music classification terminology/slang:

experimental
i cringe when i hear this term. the improviser community won this one, although i think it is phyrric. i picture a mixed ensemble playing a 45 minute improvised meditation on the architectural structure of the schindler house

postmodern
we have been going steady for a year or two. to me it means music that is not modernist, it also refers to music that might have minimalist tendencies but is a bigger club than just the minimalists. i think others have no idea what it means, and wonder if i am a metrosexual.

postclassic
a term by kyle gann that i am getting more comfortable with. a little simpler than postmodern, i think i might try it out. since most people still define "art" music as "classic" this might be easier. but is mis-refering classical music any better?

nonpop
i read this recently in the Kalvos and Damian's New Music Bazaar radio show description. i like it.
non pop. not pop.
it doesn't really describe a lot of the music being written by my friends or myself, but is still a pretty cool description, a good example of simple is better.

art music
not really a useful description, but i use it to describe the purpose of the music. i think most people don't realize that there are other types music than popular music.
i usually explain that art music is music meant to be contemplated, and it is not immediately disposable and should have a shelf life more than a month.
this doesn't mean that my music does not have entertainment qualities, but hopefully there is a little more "there, there".
some art music has pop qualities and some pop music has art qualities, and some just does suck.

i think it is just as important on how people define you as you define yourself. i will take it a sign that this music is gaining ground when i see the terminology firm to only one or two classifications.

internet radio

i'm stuck cleaning the house today for tonight's poker party with some old students from john marshall high school (now in mid-20's and not members of the slacker generation). i decided to give internet radio a try again and found some great stations that have made the house cleaning not so miserable.

iridian radio and music mavericks have made the afternoon pretty enjoyable. much of the music i had heard before, but really enjoyed listening to harold budd's the oak of the golden dreams and terry riley's poppy nogood.

rehearsals; greg sandow; crisis in classical music

we had a great rehearsal last night. our two new players, pam gadaire and diane barkauskas fit in very well. one of the problems of having a 9-member group is you always are having subs or replacing members. last night was like they always had been with us.

everybody came prepared and instead of introducing 2+ hours of new music, we picked up where we left off last june. i can't wait until our next rehearsal sunday, and i found out there is a chance that we might play the october surprise event in highland park.

the critical conversations blog/event was a great discussion of what is happening with classical and new music. i found it interesting that few would comment about orchestra as an institution. there is a great amount of insightful observations about the "the next big thing". but nobody seemed to want to talk about whether the orchestra is relevant anymore. i think that the crux of their argument is that the main problem is ideas not institutions. they are looking at how to fix it; advertising, programming, better music... oh well, as critics employed by major publications, maybe they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them, or maybe they really don't see the same problems.

besides these differences i really have enjoyed reading the following blog post by greg sandow. he uses the old platonic method of asking questions to illustrate his points:

Why isn’t the audience more active in the classical music world?

Why don’t people inside classical music institutions talk about music more?

Why do we advertise classical music so badly?

What do we ourselves get from all these concerts?

Why doesn’t classical music get closer to pop?

Why don’t we play more new music?

Why aren’t we part of contemporary life?

these are great questions and his answers/descriptions are more concise than i could ever hope, and they offer a nice blueprint to contemplate. i still think the answers are all symptoms of the bigger problem.

after last nights rehearsal i felt incredible. i can live off that feeling for weeks, happy to go back to being a wage slave. part of the journey making great music with great musicians, and the other is to help the music that i love find its audience.

going to rehearsal

rehearsals start today for our october shows. we will be adding two new members to the group (diane barkauskus-keyboard and pam gadaire guitar).
it is always a good time when we get together, and the hang afterwards always makes for a good story.

(see future post, after rehearsal... the russian and the clarinet)

tonight we will be rehearsing:

music from summerland, 1-7
retrace our steps, 1-4
law and order (michael bayer)
violin machine (bach, rodgers)
sweater song (weezer)

i am hoping to get through most of it and have an idea where we stand. of course there is never enough rehearsal time, but we should have a great time tonight.

we recorded music the original summerland cd two summers ago this way. i first organized the group by scheduling a recording session. we recorded all seven mvts. after 3 rehearsals and two 4 hour sessions in the studio. overall, pretty snappy... it would be great to have more time, but getting 9 players anywhere at the same time is tough, and financially almost impossible.

THE NEXT BIG THING

I'm back from taking a few weeks of "summer break" to catch up with family and friends on the east coast. Its fun to visit them, but its nice to be home.

So I have been following the very interesting group blog ArtsJournal: Critical Conversation that asks the somewhat wordy question :

...Now we are in a period when no particular musical idea seems to represent our age, and it appears that for the moment – at least on the surface – that there is no obvious direction music is going. So the question is: what is the next chapter in the historical conversation of musical ideas, and where are the seeds of those ideas planted?

Or

What is the next big thing?

The blog makes for great reading and should not be missed, but has devolved into a discussion of semantics. needless to say a very entertaining discussion on semantics.

Since the arguments are so far along, I am not sure if it makes any sense to join the fun, but I would like to pull back a little bit and point out a few directions that I think are important.

So what is the next big thing? (I hope this doesn't turn out like a horiscope prediction)

Well I think it probably will not have anything to do with the modern orchestra, but I think calling it dead is as just as passe as calling religion dead. It was a popular view in the late 60's but doesn't mean anything anymore. Maybe it probably should move into the museum with where we can visit it when we want to remember the "good ole days"

With that being said, i think a smaller, more mobile group (like the paul bailey ensemble ) that combines electronic, wind and string intruments is a good solution. It allows a more reasonable financial circumstance to create music. It deals with instruments that are readily available in most communities, and can be easily copied, expanded, and improved upon. The idea that a violin, electric guitar and trombone can make music in the same room is now possible because of amplification.

The real revolution is in the medium, if you change the method of delivery, you get a different audience. Maybe the laptop, dj heads are what is next. But I really think the thing that makes any of this work is the people. A great artist adapts and creates within his surroundings. A piece that transcends its medium and then when you see it being imitated by all the wannabe's !! wammo !! THE NEXT BIG THING.

Until then, I am here to plant my flag somewhere between Peri and Monteverdi and continue soldiering on.